What are y'all up to?

[Dave_Long]

Been snowing…checked out some equipment for the season…generator wouldn’t start, snow thrower wouldn’t either…called my small engine guy and pickup is tomorrow. .

Got a couple hours in on the guitar, working on a couple of Ben’s lessons, some of my old breaks, and some rhythm stuff… Did manage to sing a few too. …man I’m happy to have my guitar repaired and back in working order…I missed it.

Did about an hour or so on mando, mostly getting the Old Rugged Cross memorized, then working on some stuff I already know.

Time to pull out the fiddle now that my fingers are a little sore. Been working out a few versions of Michael C’s take on Blue Violet Waltz …

Pretty much my regular daily schedule here for playing…I try to get two hours in on each instrument. It varies depending on how the old hands feel.

[Treblemaker]

Great practice routine.

[Simone]

Ah, I love Ben’s old rugged cross mando arrangement! Despite it being quite beyond my playing ability, actually had it memorized at one time. I’ll have to revisit that one and see how it goes after a 6 ish month lapse… 2 hours on each instrument? That sounds great!

[Dave_Long]

Well, not much else to do…I’m retired on disability and just work part time in the summer.

Yeah, I that arrangement also…I’m learning both the mando and guitar parts to it.

I don’t practice super intensely, or play hard/fat ,(I’ve hurt myself doing so in the past) so I can spend more time picking.

[Archie]

Well it’s that time of year where all the schools, bands, dance and drama classes put on a show and with three granddaughters pretty much involved in everything this is a busy time for me.

I have already attended an inter schools dance competition, inter schools band competition, a drama school Christmas pantomime and a major brass band concert at a cathedral in Edinburgh. This week I have the High School Christmas Concert and on Monday another brass band concert this one will be a Christmas concert in a different cathedral. Not much free time to pick the banjo

[Dragonslayer]

Well, my dad was taking some food to a few churches for Christmas, and in one village he ripped a sidewall out of a tire. He had a spare, but his lug wrench was the wrong size so I took the tools he needed on a motorcycle to him, while he (and one of my brothers, who was with him) walked to a nearby village that I knew how to find. I found them there, and they got on the bike with me to ride back to the car. About halfway back, the gas ran out… fortunately, this bike has a reserve tank that gives about fifty kilometers extra range, so we made it to the car, changed the tire, and they went on to the last village they’re taking food to, and I’m home now. It’s been a long time since I got to ride any distance on a motorcycle, so I enjoyed it

[JohnM]

Seems like you guys are having good fun!
I’m kind of tied up with reading some constitutional law materials/books. It is interesting. Wish I had known these long before. There is a lot to read and understand to get a good handle on it to make good assessments. It is going slow but I guess I need to improve my reading pace.

[Dave_Long]

Celebrating Otis’s rescue 4 yrs ago this week

[Mike_R]

Awwwww. Hey Otis!

[Peg_E]

How many of you were on the motorbike?

[Dragonslayer]

Three. It’s built for only one person… but that’s about normal for Africa. It doesn’t handle well with passengers on, but fortunately it was a short ride back to the truck where they got off

Edit: Oh, and one of the people was my eleven year old brother, who’s fairly small, so it’s not like three adults on the bike

[Peg_E]

Oh, well, ok then!

[Lee_G]

Nice one Dave… He’s so cute and i too have a rescue dog thats now 13

[Dave_Long]

Well I played guitar and mando all day and night yesterday ’till my hands wore out.

Decided I’d better take a break and review my tune/song list.

I was surprised when I got the list finished that I have about 70 tunes (or breaks to songs) I have memorized and can play on fiddle…had no idea I knew that many.

After yesterdays marathon of flat-picking (learning stuff). tonight I’m just jamming to rhythm tracks on the fiddle…it’s much easier on the hands.

Made some great progress yesterday though…haven’t played anything but rhythm on guitar for years, and after this last session I decided to get back into playing some leads to things…Went through several of Ben’s lessons and tried remembering some things I did back in the “old days”.

Feeling much happier and inspired with both guitar and mando now.

[Dragonslayer]

Cool Dave!
Yesterday I recorded my most recent original tune Midnight Firefly with all the instruments.
Also I’ve been listening to the Purple Hulls ten thousand exits album… did y’all know that they were a country band? This album ain’t bluegrass at all, it’s country. And not really that annoying pop country either, I’m really enjoying it!

[Dave_Long]

I didn’t know they made that move, but it makes musical & monetary sense.

Trad country & blluegrass use a lot of similar skills and doing both can open more doors for some groups.

I’m just working the three instruments w/rhythm tracks right now on aobut a dozen new tunes…hoping to get htem recorded to share this Winter.

Right now I’m working on

Squirrel hunters
liberty
Bill Cheatum
blackberry blossom
Red Haired Boy
June Apple
Cherokee Shuffle
Whiskey b4 Breakfast
Salt CreekOver the Waterfall
Fishers Hornpipe

If I can get these down on three instruments and retain what I already know I’ll be super happy wiht the seasons work.

[Dragonslayer]

didn’t know they made that move, but it makes musical & monetary sense.

I was surprised cuz it seems most bands/individuals go the other way, they start bluegrass and go country, so the Hulls going the other way was interesting.

That’s a good list of tunes there! I’ve got all the camp tunes to learn except a couple, so I’ll be pretty busy

[WillCoop]

Welcome @Grinnin!

Glad to see you chimin’ in.

[Dragonslayer]

Ugh. Just spent the whole night worshipping the toilet… not fun. Pls pray for me

[Mark_Rocka]

Oh no! What’s wrong?